Metro adding 6 more 'mini-hybrid' buses with $2.5M grant

By Kevin LeMaster – Editor and Publisher of Building Cincinnati, Cincinnati Business Courier

Jul 27, 2012, 12:40pm EDT

Six new “mini-hybrid” buses will join Cincinnati Metro’s fleet by 2014, thanks to a $2.5 million State of Good Repair grant from the Federal Transit Administration.

The mini-hybrids, which are full-size buses with advanced thermal cooling systems, will replace six of Metro’s older, less fuel-efficient vehicles.

“Replacing older buses with new, more environmentally efficient buses is one of our priorities at Metro,” Metro CEO and General Manager Terry Garcia Crews said in a news release. “The mini-hybrid technology will help us become greener and reduce operating costs. It’s another step we’re taking to make Metro a better system.”

The $2.5 million grant is part of $787 million in FTA State of Good Repair and Bus Livability grants announced on Monday. This third round of funding will support 255 projects to modernize and replace aging transit facilities and vehicles in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Metro replaced 45 older buses with mini-hybrids earlier this summer. According to the transit service, mini-hybrids provide a $240,000 per bus savings over the cost of a traditional hybrid bus, save $2,000 a year in fuel costs, emit 10 percent less greenhouse gases than diesel buses, and reduce annual maintenance costs.